I am interested in buying a Sage RPLXi 9 wt. I've seen the 3-piece version but not the 5. If you have cast both of them, I would be very interested in hearing your views on the differences between the two. Thank you !

If there is a casting clave this year I have the 5 pc and would be happy to bring it. I have cast the 3 (my brother has it) and he would probably be there too.

I would give you my opinion on the 2 rods but I think you need to cast them before you make any decisions (everyone's casting style is different). I think that the 5 pc and the 3 pc are both sweet rods.

The 5 pc is indeed great for travel - especially on family outings when you know you are going to fish but fishing is not the prime daily activity. The rod is easy to carry and does not stick out like a sore thumb.

My personal opinion is that a the more pieces that you get in a rod the more it slows its action down. I have 2 of the 3 piece RPLxi's in an 8wt and they are not an extremely fast rod to begin with. I would try to limit the number of pieces that you broke the rod into to the minimum possible number. I travel with 3 piece rods quite often and they will not pack in luggage. However, they carry on easy enough and to date have posed no problem with any of the airlines.

Have casted both and personally chose the 5pc. I think it had a slightly better action believe it or not. Used it most of last year and is a real treat to cast all day not that the 3 wouldn't be but I personally felt more comfortable with the 5pc. Not only is it a gun but fits nicely under the seat of the Jeep, away from the Looky Loo's who like to shop for gear in other peoples cars.

Like Juro, I have the 5-piece 8wt RPLXi (I also have the 3-piece 8wt as well) and the 5 pc is a sweetheart to cast. If you plan to travel by plane much--especially out of country--the ability to pack rods inside your check through luggage is a major plus. You may be lucky enough to carry your rod(s) on board, but don't count on it. Many gate inspectors will force you to check it through. The interpretation is not consistent and you won't know til you're at the gate. So I now pack all my rods inside my luggage. The 5-piece model will fit in just about any standard check-through bag (and even some carry-on bags). There are roller duffles from both Eagle Creek and Orvis that will just handle a 3-pc at 39" inside a PVC tube.

As you know if you're considering them, the RPLXi's are a moderately fast rod that Sage has optimized for throwing long--especially for saltwater applications. I often have 3 8wt RPLXi rods rigged when I am bonefishing (one 5 pc and 2 3pc) and interchange them frequently. Sage appears to have really minimized the effect of the additional ferrules on this model as I really don't sense any noticable difference in action and only minor weight difference--the 5pc is about 20% heavier. Nice packable travel rod!

As you fill find out the secret to casting the rplxi is to find the rhythm and let the rod do the work. Like many of the good Sage blanks, you can let the rod do the work for you. Those stiff rods are for young bucks with a lot of mileage left on their rotator cups. Sage RPLXi, VPS and DS series really take the load for you and are good choices for preventing ailments.

I've never seen you cast, but I have to ask - when you make a casting motion, how far does your elbow travel from your side?

Stiff rods tend to make the angler extend the arm during the casting stroke, which wears the shoulder joint, which shortens a caster's fishing lifetime. All those striper guys you see straight-arm casting out there are not going to be out there when they get older. This is from an orthopedic surgeon I know who flyfishes, I didn't make this up.

Find a rod that matches your casting style so that you can propel a good line without overly extending your arm, especially going thru the stroke. I think that will be the biggest factor in fighting joint ailments, but then again I ain't no doctor.

You might want to see if you can locate a Powell Legacy to take for a spin. It has an action similar to the old Sage SP that you can really feel load and takes very little work to cast. I'm not really up on every model of fly rod available but I prefere a medium fast action to something that throws micro-loops for miles on end.

If you are flats fishing, you're probably not going to need to cast much farther than 50-60 feet anyway so you might not need the howitzer by your side.

I'm pretty sure that my elbow wanders too much, `cause my shoulder hurt for quite a while after both spring and fall runs to the Cape. Another sin is that I tend to lift my arm too high. I'm pretty sure that that is mainly a subconscious attempt to keep clousers up off the water/sand and, even more importantly, a little further away from my head and back...

The heaviest Powell Legacy is only 8 wt, unfortunately.

One thing that is interesting about the Sage DS2 rods is that they are quite light. I wagged one today, it had a nice easy "feel" to it. Maybe by next year Sage will have a 4-pc 9 wt: I can claim one for a "backup."

Well, mebbe there is a 4 pc DS2 9 wt. The ezflyfish site shows one, while the Sage site can't seem to make up it's mind. The 2 pc 9 wt, by the way, weighs just a hair under 4 oz. That's pretty damn good, as long as there's some backbone to work with.

Welllll... I have a Powell 8wt 3pc, Sage DS2 9wt 2pc, Sage RPLXI 5pc 9wt. Out of all of those I find the 5pc the easiest to cast out of all my rods. Why I'm not sure but the theory is as follows:
DS2 is soft and requires extra effort to make long casts. Heavy. Good for steelhead and freshwater but to slow for the salt.

Powell AXS has two distinct flex points. The tip and the mid section. If you can get the timing just right the rod will shoot like a cannon but if you dont have good timing or consistant timing you can easily wind up with a mess of line on your hands and a really "bad" cast.

RPLXI 9wt 5pc
Relatively fast and responsive. Easy to get the distance needed when called upon. Very little effort to get a good cast. Nice smooth transfer of power throughout the rod. Light and effortless to cast for long periods of time.

With that being said I am partial to the 5pc. Although I fish all of the rods above through out the season I use the 5pc 70% of the time and really find it a great rod to cast all day without beating yourself up.